Peyton Wolcott - Cosmos Foundation, Inc. Board vice chair Ellen A. MacDonald

2010-2011 Annual Governance Reporting
Form for Open-Enrollment
Charter Schools

Charter Holder         COSMOS FOUNDATION. INC.
Charter Name       Harmony Sch. [sic] Nature and Athletics
CDN         220-813

LEGAL NAME:
Title
First Name
Initial
Last Name

Any aliases, nicknames, or names formerly used by the
individual, including maiden name _______

Work (daytime) phone #   (832) 443-xxxx **
Alternate (home/cell) phone #   (713) 629-xxxx **
Mailing Address
9449 BRIAR FOREST DRIVE #805
HOUSTON, TX 77063

DATE SIGNED: Oct. 6, 2010

NOTE: On Oct. 30, 2009, Mrs. MacDonald signed another
Governance Reporting Form (for Harmony School of
Innovation in Dallas, CDN 220-813); this one had the
same phone numbers but a different mailing address:
1911 Post Oak Dr., #5315, Houston, Texas 77027.

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Cosmos Foundation, Inc. (Texas) - Q: Who is Cosmos board of directors VP Ellen A. MacDonald?

Bringing you the information and tools you need in order to improve public education and lower taxes and spending; during the past two decades of the voucher debate an entire generation has grown up in the public school system.
If you don't think this is important look at the Nov. 2008 election where folks voted based on emotions and hope rather than facts. Let's put a stop to the school-to-prison pipeline -- and keep our public schools locally run, strong and free..

April 2011

Joe Straus

Ken Paxton

actual
expenditures, all
funds

Wendy
Davis (SD
# 10)

Aledo ISD
Arlington ISD
Birdville ISD
Burleson ISD

Carroll ISD
Castleberry ISD
Crowley ISD
Eagle MtSaginaw
ISD
Everman ISD
Fort Worth ISD
Godley ISD
Grapevine-Colleyville
ISD
Hurst-Euless-Bedford
ISD
Keller ISD
Kennedale ISD
Lake Worth
ISD
Mansfield ISD
White Settlement ISD

$ 15,773
$    8,668
$ 12,471
$ 18,014
$ 11,790
$    8,908
$ 13,063
$ 14,527
$ 14,446
$ 10,884
$ 25,709
$ 11,255
$    9,013
$ 11,424
$    9,150
$ 13,056
$ 10,474
$    9,496

LINKS

Information supplied by Cosmos
to TEA re Ellen A. MacDonald

So, what are Ellen A. MacDonald's
qualifications for overseeing
schoolchildren & taxpayer dollars?

Q: What else is Cosmos VP Ellen A. MacDonald involved in?
A: Lots -- medical legal consulting in geriatrics & long term care,
advocacy for elders and on behalf of the Elder Justice Act.

Information re Cosmos Foundation
vice president Ellen A. MacDonald
on Cosmos website

None* -- not even her name, title or term of office.

* As of April 1, 2011 Cosmos Foundation, Inc. does not
list the names of any of their board members -- unlike
public school districts' elected trustees -- even though
the Cosmos appointed charter operator board also
oversees many schoolchildren and many tax dollars.

** Obscured here; if you want to view the phone numbers
in their entirety or Mrs. MacDonald's residence
addresses please contact TEA.

Mrs.
ELLEN
EAM [sic]
MacDONALD

In the absence of any information supplied to TEA
or posted on the Cosmos Foundation, Inc.
website, the next place to go looking for
information about Ellen is the State Board for
Educator Certification.

We did. There is no "Ellen MacDonald" or "Ellen A.
MacDonald" listed at SBEC.

So we kept looking. On April 1, 2011 (honest) we
found her, finally.

Aha! Here she is! Ellen Amelia
MacDonald is a Texas-licensed
registered nurse (RN) in Houston:

Total Finds: 1

The Texas Board of Nursing certifies that
it maintains the information for the license
verification function of this website, performs
daily updates to the website and considers
the website to be a secure, primary source
for license verification.

Texas Board of Nursing
333 Guadalupe #3-460
Austin, Texas 78701
Office: (512) 305-7400

Texas Nurses - Verification Results

ELLEN AMELIA MACDONALD
• License Type: REGISTERED NURSE
• Resides in: HOUSTON TX 77063
• Issued on: 2/1/1983
• Licensure Status: CURRENT - 6/30/2012
• Compact License: YES
• Current Disciplinary Action: NONE

SOURCE--https://www.bne.state.tx.us/olv/verification.html

Not sure how either being a registered nurse or running a business in medical legal consulting (below)
would qualify Ellen MacDonald to be vice president of the board of a charter school operation; perhaps

Q: Any signs of Ellen A. MacDonald
on any other official documents?

A: Yes. Ellen's misspelled name & title are recorded on
the tax form 990 Cosmos sends to the IRS each year.

Apparently Ellen MacDonald's middle name is not
"EAM" as she has told TEA at least twice; it's
Amelia. Here's what's posted at the state board of
nursing in Austin:

Texas Comptroller Entity Information:

MACDONALD & LAY
MEDICAL LEGAL
CONSULTANTS, LLC
5909 WEST LOOP S STE 550
BELLAIRE, TX 77401-2500

Status:
NOT IN GOOD
STANDING

Registered Agent: ANDREW P.
MCCORMICK, 5909 WEST
LOOP SOUTH, SUITE 550,
BELLAIRE, TX 77401

State of Formation: TX
File Number: 0801138364
SOS Reg. Date: June 25, 2009
Taxpayer Number: 32039782563

it's her expertise in running a business.

Oops. Mrs. MacDonald's company is not in good standing with the
Texas Comptroller (below left) "as it has not satisfied all franchise
tax requirements."

Wondering how MacDonald &
Lay, LLC could be anything but in
the pink given their degree of
expertise especially in the area of
records?

This is impressive:

Ellen MacDonald: "Division Head
for Gerontology in the
Department of Systems and
Technology as well as the
Associate Director for
Community Affairs and
Operations at the UT-Houston
Center on Aging," "had a major
role in developing the initial
course in gerontological nursing
at Texas Woman's University,"
and "staffing, accreditation, policy
and procedures." She has also
"given depositions in
medical-related legal cases."
(cont'd below)

Meet Ellen MacDonald
[from Mrs. MacDonald's business website]:

Ellen MacDonald, RN, MN, CLNC

You're the expert on the law; I'm the expert on the
subtleties and inner workings of the healthcare
system. Together we can achieve the most
favorable and cost-effective result for your client.

Clinical
Much of my 35 years of experience in geriatrics
has been in the clinical setting. I developed the
initial clinical undergraduate and graduate
geriatric nursing courses for two schools of
nursing and supervised the students in a variety
of clinical settings. I do not have to rely on theory,
but have a clear understanding of the challenges
of nursing practice as well as the professional
standards of care.

Administration and Management
My 20 years of experience as an administrator
and manager enable me to see the big picture
- the larger context in which the incident occurred.
It also makes me sensitive to the need to be cost
efficient. I can address all the issues that clinical
nurses at the bedside can plus numerous issues that a bedside
nurse cannot such as staffing, accreditation, policy and procedures,
and the inner workings of a health care institution.

In addition to providing quick, reliable feedback on the potential
merits of a case, I can quickly identify all the relevant policies and
procedures for any type of medical-related case, weeding out
irrelevant issues.

Nursing Education
In years of teaching and making public presentations, I have
demonstrated the speaking skills to translate complicated medical
information into layman’s terms that the attorney can understand and
use in court. I have also given depositions in medical-related legal
cases.

My significant professional relationships in the field of geriatric
medicine and nursing in Houston and in Texas enable me to readily
identify qualified medical and nursing experts.

In addition, as a member of the National Alliance of Certified Legal
Nurse Consultants (CM) I have access to 6,000 Certified Legal
Nurses Consultants who can testify to nursing issues and help me
locate reputable MDs to testify to medical issues.

Ellen MacDonald's Background
Ellen MacDonald is a pioneer in advocating for and serving older
adults, having been active in the field since 1972 ~ or as her
daughter would say, since the days in which the first task after
answering "What does your mom do?" was to define the word
"gerontology."

From December 2006- December 2008 Ellen MacDonald was
responsible for three departments at Sheltering Arms Senior
Services, the Medicare-Funded Home Health Agency, the Home Care
Department and the Dementia Day Center.

From 2005-2006 she was Program Manager for Care Consultation
and Support Groups at the Houston and Southeast Texas Chapter of
the Alzheimer’s Association, after having served for several years on
its Board of Directors, including two 2-year terms as President.

After thirteen years of service, Ms. MacDonald retired in 1999 from the
University of Texas-Houston School of Nursing, where she had
served as Division Head for Gerontology in the Department of
Systems and Technology as well as the Associate Director for
Community Affairs and Operations at the UT-Houston Center on
Aging. Until 2001 she then served as a Regional Administrator for
Uncommon Care, Inc., operators of the Barton House, an assisted
living facility for persons with dementia.

Ms. MacDonald received her BA from Houghton College in New York
with a major in history and minors in Latin and psychology and her
Masters in Nursing Degree from Frances Payne Bolton School of
Nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
Subsequently she was certified in gerontological and psych/mental
health nursing and became a licensed nursing facility administrator.

Prior to her appointment to the UT-Houston Health Sciences Center,
she was the Director of Nursing Services at Seven Acres Jewish
Geriatric Center in Houston, prior to which she had a major role in
developing the initial course in gerontological nursing at Texas
Woman's University. Her previous experience includes developing
and directing a program of older adult services for Oaklawn
Community Mental Health Center in Goshen, Indiana.

In addition to her involvement with the local Alzheimer's Association,
Ms. MacDonald has served on several local and state committees.
She chaired the Aging Programs Advisory Committee of the Houston-
Galveston Area Council Department on Aging, and the Board of the
Area Health Education Center. She is a member of the Board of the
Texas Interfaith Housing Corporation and has chaired its Supportive
Services Committee. As a member of the Board of The Seniors
Place, a day center for persons with dementia, Ms. MacDonald
chaired the Health Professionals Committee, and prior to her formal
employment at Sheltering Arms she served on its Programs Advisory
Committee. She was appointed to the Governing Council of Care for
Elders, the Houston/Harris County Partnership for Long-Term Care
and chaired the Stakeholder Education work group addressing
community awareness issues.

Ms. MacDonald has been honored with many prestigious community
service awards, including that as a 2004 ABC Channel 13 Woman of
Distinction and also a 2005 recipient of the Foley’s/Houston
Chronicle SAVVY Award.

Ms. MacDonald served on the state Legislative Advisory Committee to
the C.A.R.E. Project on Alzheimer’s and was a member of the
Citizens’ Advisory Council of the Texas Department on Aging. For
three years she was the Regional Staff Ombudsman and Program
Director of the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program under contract
with the Houston/Harris County Area Agency on Aging and has
continued as a certified volunteer. In November 1998, Governor
George Bush appointed her to a 6-year term on the Texas Council for
Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, in which she was
appointed to the Steering Committee of its Alzheimer’s Disease
Research Consortium. In October 2002 she was named President
of the Alzheimer's Association Coalition of Texas which focuses on
advocating for legislation important to Texans with Alzheimer’s
Disease and their caregivers.

Ms. MacDonald’s research has focused on issues of quality of life in
nursing homes and the health practices of older adults. She has
received three grants to provide preventive health services to elderly
residents of three medically underserved Texas counties, and one to
provide health care services to two HUD supported housing
communities for low-income elderly.

The Rest of the Team
■ Meet Patrick Lay
■ Meet Val Jean Hide

Top: Ellen MacDonald,
Patrick Lay & Val
Jean Hide.

(continued from above)

Patrick Lay: Former
"Administrator of Health
Services for a large Senior
Services organization
specializing in providing
in-home medical and
non-medical care to the
elderly," "twelve years as
Director of
Emergency/Trauma
Services," "extensive
involvement in hospital
and home care Risk
Management, as well as
development of policies
and procedures which
serve as the standards of
practice within a medical
organization," "expert
support and consultation
for attorneys involved in
medical-legal issues,"
and "dual bachelor
degrees in Nursing and
Political Science."

Val Jean Hide: "Over 25
years' experience to
clients in the Health Care
field, specializing as an
Independent Medical
Records Consultant in
more than 200 Long Term
Care facilities and
hospitals for major
companies state and
nationwide," "a proven
track record for analyzing
and reviewing medical
records for proper
documentation and
meeting standards for
legal purposes," "ability in
preparing Long Term
Care facilities and
hospitals for meeting
Federal and State
standards to successfully
pass surveys and
accreditations."

With all of this expertise,
how is it that MacDonald &
Lay are behind on paying
their franchise taxes
according to the state
comptroller?

Mrs. MacDonald advocating on YouTube for "Elder Justice" -- whatever that is.

Harmony School of Nature and Athletics referenced on one of Ellen MacDonald's forms submitted to TEA;
it is in Dallas and she lives in Houston.

This is the quickly growing taxpayer-funded edu-empire of charter schools
Mrs. Ellen Amelia MacDonald, RN -- whose own business is not in good standing
according to the Texas Comptroller as of April 1, 2011 -- is vice president over.